Earth and Fire are legends of the Dutch rock scene, first making an impression with their debut single in 1969. They quickly established themselves as an international act thanks to the excellence of their material and the powerful vocals of Jerney Kaagman. In 1971 the band released arguably their finest work, 'Song of the Marching Children', a Mellotron soaked masterpiece that was a major selling album throughout Europe.
Earth and Fire are legends of the Dutch rock scene, first making an impression with their debut single in 1969. They quickly established themselves as an international act thanks to the excellence of their material and the powerful vocals of Jerney Kaagman. In 1971 the band released arguably their finest work, 'Song of the Marching Children', a Mellotron soaked masterpiece that was a major selling album throughout Europe.
Thanks to the Latin-inflected title track, Children of Sanchez became another huge hit for Chuck Mangione. The title song even earned him a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, and serious jazz listeners will spot a problem with that award – it was for pop, not jazz. That, of course, is an accurate assessment of Mangione's music, since there isn't much improvisation on the album at all…
Thanks to the Latin-inflected title track, Children of Sanchez became another huge hit for Chuck Mangione. The title song even earned him a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, and serious jazz listeners will spot a problem with that award – it was for pop, not jazz. That, of course, is an accurate assessment of Mangione's music, since there isn't much improvisation on the album at all. Instead, there's a selection of Spanish- and Latin-flavored instrumentals, arranged as if to give the impression that the album is a song cycle. If so, it's a song cycle/concept album that doesn't go anywhere. Nevertheless, there's enough pleasant music here to satisfy fans of his pop stylings.
A PRETTY SONG is Teensville's twelfth offering in their acclaimed Sunshine, Soft & Studio Pop compact disc series. Featuring an array of 31 never-before-on-CD cuts spanning the era 1966-1972, the disc highlights the neglected side of well produced but non-hit commercial material.
A PRETTY SONG is Teensville's twelfth offering in their acclaimed Sunshine, Soft & Studio Pop compact disc series. Featuring an array of 31 never-before-on-CD cuts spanning the era 1966-1972, the disc highlights the neglected side of well produced but non-hit commercial material.
Esoteric Recordings are proud to announce the release of a new deluxe 3CD which tells the story of the so- called “underground” era of one of Britain’s great independent record labels of the 1960s & 1970s, Transatlantic Records. In the heady atmosphere of the late 1960s, the sea change in British popular music spearheaded by the Beatles experimentation on the Sergeant Pepper album and swiftly followed by the likes of Cream, Pink Floyd, Traffic, Family, Procol Harum, Jethro Tull and a host of groups and musicians who followed in their footsteps led to the album being seen as the medium in which “serious” musicians would explore and develop their craft. The apparently disparate genres of blues, jazz, rock, folk and even world music were fused together by many diverse acts all of whom were eager to be regarded as “progressive” in their musical approach. The so-called “underground” audience eagerly consumed this music, which sat alongside the social changes that were also taking place.
The famous Russian director Sergei Eisenstein held Prokofiev the film composer in the highest regard, and to couple their two celebrated collaborations, Ivan the Terrible and Alexander Nevsky, in a two-disc set is therefore entirely appropriate. Ivan the Terrible, however, is a problematic score. Assembled by Abram Stassevich after the composer’s death, the oratorio lacks the large-scale balances and tensions of Prokofiev’s own Nevsky cantata, relying on narration to hold the structure together. This substantial English version by Michael Lankester, intended to ‘compensate for the lack of visual image’, is well projected by Christopher Plummer. Rostropovich directs a vivid performance of Alexander Nevsky, and only the rich tone of Russian voices is lacking. The LSO plays brilliantly, while the recording does full justice to one of Prokofiev’s finest scores.